An investigation of the incident by Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey resulted in a ruling that Deputy Ford’s attack was “justified” because of profane and provocative language used by the detainee.

DA Says Cop Was “Justified” in Beating Man For His “Foul Mouth”

An investigation of the incident by Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey resulted in a ruling that Deputy Ford’s attack was “justified” because of profane and provocative language used by the detainee.

In keeping with established policy, Ford’s termination will be revised to a paid suspension. This means, in effect, that the “punishment” for Ford’s act of aggravated assault would be a 14-month paid vacation. Two other deputies involved in the incident, including one who covered up Ford’s act of aggravated assault by refusing to report it, were reinstated by the Career Service Board last month.

In his account, Ford claimed that he had threatened to take Askins back to his cell if he didn’t desist, and that his purpose in approaching the detainee was to fulfill that promise. Security camera video shows the much larger, armed deputy striding toward Askins, gesturing slightly as the detainee stands to his feet, and then flooring him with an overhand right.

Askins “popped up off the bench,” Ford related during the inquiry. “I didn’t tell him to get up. I didn’t give him an order. He popped up off the bench in an aggressive manner. His body was tense, and his face, and then, based off his previous threats about what he was going to do to me, I felt threatened and I defended myself with … a strike that we are taught in the Academy to defend ourselves against threats.”

Ford’s ritualistic invocation of the familiar “I feared for my safety” refrain notwithstanding, the video clearly shows that Askins did not assume a “fighting stance” or otherwise display any intent to attack the officer. His hands remain at his sides and he can be seen leaning away from the approaching deputy. The skinny middle-aged drunk was never a credible threat to the bold and valiant Deputy Ford, who – like other deputies on the scene – was clad in body armor and carrying a gun.

DA Morrissey minimizes the seriousness of Ford’s assault by saying that it left no visible injury on Askins. The real offense here, according to the prosecutor, was the use of offensive words by the detainee, who was supposedly “committing the crime of `harassment’ against both deputies by making [foul and racist] comments.”

On this construction, punching an unarmed, non-violent inmate in the face is a less egregious crime than violating a law enforcement officer’s “safe space.” This is what happens with Blue Privilege and political correctness converge. Rather than being practicing adults who are expected to deal professionally with drunk, obnoxious people, law enforcement officers are encouraged to see themselves as precious snowflakes who are easily intimidated by unarmed detainees.

“The resolution of this case marks a new day for our community and for our sheriff’s department,” Mayor Michael B. Hancock declared in announcing the settlement. “We are working hard to strengthen protocols and chart a new direction for the department that will restore the public’s trust.”
That “new direction,” it appears, would involve dispensing outright with any pretense of accountability on the part of deputies who engage in abusive behavior.

Courts have already ruled on this and why you can flip off a cop (legally) without charges or repercussion.
Free speech takes many forms and nearly all are protected by our Constitution.

What I’ve just read is the Denver DA is in collusion with the police department. The officer should rightfully be fired for a major civil rights violation. The officers attempting a cover up should be charged with the additional crime of accessory after the fact and fired as well.
The DA should also be removed from office for malfeasance.
This incident will likely be the trigger for a very expensive lawsuit for the citizens of Denver.
If your public officials are out of control by aiding and abetting wrong doing, you should get used to paying vast amounts of money for your lack of care and due diligence.

trickman

As much as police lie now all they have to do is say someone cussed them out and that justifies a beaten sooner or later a killing by police.In one of the camps, a man called a Tennessee police SGT a SOB in the man’s living room he was arrested for disorderly conduct in his own home.He was beaten by four Tennessee police officers and than thrown in jail.A federal judge in NASHVILLE ruled that calling someone a SOB wasn’t being disorderly especially in their own home but Tennessee which has never recognized the constitution still beat and arrest people today for calling them any foul name.

TecumsehUnfaced

I think that DA Mitch Morissey has a foul mouth. Do I have to become a cop before I can beat him up?

What is this Career Service Board? An organization to whitewash thug fascist cops?

Resource exploitation, military occupation and so-called “anti-terror” efforts led by Western countries are destabilizing several countries in Africa, leading to widespread starvation and sickness for millions of people. Famine has become a daily fact of life for many in Somalia, South Sudan and elsewhere in Africa.

Iraqi agriculture expert Dr. Nakd Altameemi joins Mnar Muhawesh on ‘Behind the Headline’ to discuss the devastating toll that war, sanctions and Western corporations have had on Iraq’s centuries-old agricultural traditions.

Rania Khalek, an independent journalist who has been blacklisted for her recent reports on Syria, joins Mnar Muhawesh on ‘Behind the Headline’ to discuss the silencing of journalists who oppose the mainstream media’s pro-war agenda.

As an unprecedented wave of outrage swells against the Trump administration, Mnar Muhawesh, host of ‘Behind the Headline,’ wonders why people weren’t more outraged with Obama’s policies on mass surveillance, whistleblowers, and war.